Third Thursday Poetry Night, January 20

The last time we gathered here at the Social Justice Center for this monthly event was in February 2020. I had hoped we would be back here later in 2021 as venues began to open, but by then the SJC was undergoing renovations to ensure that the 2nd floor didn’t become the 1st floor. Now we are back. Of course there are restrictions, limitations — the capacity of the room is limited, but then this is a poetry event which is why we hold the open mic in a small place; you must be vaccinated; & must wear a mask, except when reading.

Diane di Prima reading, October 2010

I was gratified to see the poets coming in through the door — regulars, irregulars, rare visitors & even a first-timer. The usual rule in the past was one poem! but tonight we went to 2 poems, to celebrate being back here. But before we got started I invoked the Muse, & the list of gone poets has grown in the last 2 years. One of the great gone was Diane di Prima who left us in October 2020 (she had been born in 1934). I first became aware of her from the anthology The Beat Scene (Corinth Books, 1960) with photos by the great Fred McDarrah. Tonight in her honor I read her poem “Nocturne” which had appeared in the book with a different title.

On to the open mic list, with the first reader Sylvia Barnard, who is perhaps the most faithful regular here over the years, sitting in the front “row;” she read a poem that she had read this Fall at the short-lived series on Myrtle Ave., The Holy Local, a poem about remembering her fried Brian, then a new, related piece titled “Death in April,” about watching Morris Dancers in Washington Park on May Day. Therese Broderick will be the featured reader next month, tonight read a poem in a new form, “the duplex,” invented by poet Jericho Brown, about hunting for COVID test kits (& winning “the COVID Lottery”), titled "Out of Stock." 

Lance LeGrys drove down from Vermont with his daughter, Alex, to join the open mic; he had been here in November of 2019 when his friend Lucyna Prostko read as the featured poet. His first poem was based on a documentary film by Werner Herzog about a deaf/blind woman, his poem considering what that experience could be; in contrast his next poem, titled “Living Among Cannibals,” was filled with grim & macabre humor. Alex LeGrys followed suit with a piece titled “The Isolationist,” a grim portrait of a woman. I put myself on the list next with a new, & rare narrative piece “Whistler 2001” about skiing, or not.

Rachel Baum has been showing up at the Caffe Lena Poetry Night (1st Wednesdays), describing herself as a “new” poet, & this was her first time here, her first piece read from her phone, “The Day You Didn’t Leave,” then one on paper “Montana 1975” a sad story of a breakup. Interestingly enough, I made an announcement about the annual Tom Nattell Memorial Beret Toss to be held in Washington Park on January 31, & the next poet was Jan Tramontano who read the poem for Tom she had been writing for him to be read at the open mic when she heard he had died, back in 2005; from her new chapbook The Me I Was with You (Finishing Line Press, 2021) she read a poem about her mother, “Daily Ritual.” Frank Robinson finished off the open mic list with a fantasy/dream box with everything found “Under a Xmas Tree — & we all went Ahh!”

Austin Houston, tonight’s featured poet, had read at open mics in town pre-pandemic, & was one of the readers at Poets in the Park in 2020 & subsequently self-published through Amazon a chapbook of poems Existence: Chaos in Our Own Backyard. He began with a poem appropriate enough for a frozen night, “Code Blue,” imagining death by cold, then a poem that asks (& answers) the question, “What Is Poetry?”  “I am Me” was next, an old poem & he still has the original page written in pencil, then on to a poem about depression, “Forgive Me I’m Just Depressed.” He then went on to a trio of pieces from his book, the poems “Pandemic,” “Corona Madness,” & “Corporate Greed.” Recently the place where Austin works, Huck Finn’s Warehouse, was bought by developers & his next poem was about the uncertainty & stress this process of change had upon him & his fellow workers. His poem, “I Pray for You,” was to & about his Dad who is now living in Florida, then he ended with a poem from his book titled “Meanwhile,” about the daily events that get us through these times. A well-planned reading from a local poet I’m sure we’ll hear more from.

We are so glad to be back on the third Thursday of the month with poetry & the spoken word here at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany, NY, open for sign-up for the open mic at 7:00PM, the reading starts at 7:30PM, with an open mic & a featured reader. Your donation helps support local poetry events & the work of the Social Justice Center.